South Adelaide vs Port Adelaide
Round 18 - Flinders University Stadium - 14/08/2022

Goals: Garthwaite 3, Brooksby, Shillabeer 2, Freitag, Heaslip, O'Neill
Best: Garthwaite, Sampson, Brooksby, Haines, Shillabeer
Crowd: 1,025
Dr. Jones & Partners Injury List

Party on Garth: South Adelaide give Sammy O a fitting send-off with a come-from-behind win against rival Port Adelaide at Flinders University Stadium on Sunday. 

Filled with emotion from start to finish; the Panthers' nail-biting victory over century-old-rival Port Adelaide was a story full of stories.

The 114-gamer Sam Overall called time on his South journey, Eamon Wilkinson celebrated his 50th match, and Happy Valley duo Charlie Duncan and Harry Spacie began their journey as South’s 20th and 21st debutants of the season.

And what better way to celebrate a retirement, a debutant, and a milestone match than with a Malcolm Whitford-inspired 65-metre torpedo goal after the siren to bump the winning margin up to 9 points, 10.9 (69) to 9.6 (60).

Ryan Garthwaite’s crowd-frenzying torpedo was the perfect ending to the big man’s Best on Ground display.

Garthy spent the first 3 quarters down back where he stopped several scoring opportunities – before he then moved up forward in the final term where he astonished with 3 goals within 15 minutes to win the game and take the lead in South’s goal tally.

However, before Garthy could get the party started with his fabulous scoring run, the Panthers were forced to battle extremely hard throughout the day. They trailed at every break except for the one that mattered most.

The visitors opened the scoring just 2 minutes into the game. But it soon fell into a wrestle.

Overall had his first-quarter appearance cut short due to a blood rule, which happened when he collided with former Panther Sam Skinner.

Noteworthy, Skunk was playing his first game back at Flinders University Stadium since being drafted.

The wrestle continued but the Panthers’ scoring did not. It took until the eighth-minute mark of the second term for Keegan Brooksby to slot South’s first for the day. Minutes later, Ben Shillabeer converted to cut the deficit to a single goal.

This momentum shift continued, and soon a behind brought the lead to within a straight kick. Then Reece Milsom’s clever spoil with the flight of ball gave South a clean look inside 50 – which was finished off by Shillabeer.

Shilla’s goal gave South the lead for the first time in the game. Unfortunately, the lead only lasted for a few minutes as Port finished off the quarter strong to hand South a 3.4 (22) to 6.4 (40) deficit at halftime.

Port Adelaide opened the scoring in the third term to increase the deficit to 24 points.

The Panthers came close to reeling them in but struggled to convert their chances. That was until a Mitch O’Neil interception and goal on the run breathed new life into South’s resistance.

With some wonderful defensive work by Elliot Dunkin (20 disposals) and Joe Haines (32 disposals), as well as a goal-saving interception by Garthwaite – the Panthers look to be wrestling control of the match once again.

A Ben Heaslip goal on the run, and a classy Damon Freitag goal from a tough angle, helped send South into the final break facing a beatable 5-point margin, 6.7 (43) to 7.6 (48).

However, the Panther faithful were left wondering if another win was going to slip through their fingers as Port booted consecutive goals within 2 minutes.

And as the match entered the midpoint of the fourth term – and with the Panthers trailing by 17 points – victory looked unlikely … but then entered Garthy.

Needing to transition the footy away from halfback, Hayden Sampson embraced the moment as he broke through the line, gained some territory, and sent the footy into the forward line.

There, Garthy was able to gain possession and leave 3 defenders looking helpless as he weaved through them and into a much-needed goal.

With the Panther crowd fully behind them, the blue and white were able to go coast-to-coast to Brooksby who – after taking a heavy knock – was able to kick calmly to cut the deficit to 3 points. 

By now, the noise level around Flinders University Stadium had hit a new high. As the Panthers continued to storm home, the visitors looked to be cracking under the pressure – and this boiled over as the game ticked into stoppage time.

Port – having intercepted the footy within South’s goal square – looked to rebound the footy to safety but instead saw the ball land on the chest of a soaring Zac Dumesny. He was able to set the ball up beautifully to the square where Garthy was waiting to take a strong contested grab – there, at close range, he slotted the lead-taking goal.

Taking the lead for the first time since the second term, the pressure was on both sides as Port – who won a free kick at the centre bounce – attacked forward.

After desperately soaking up the pressure, the Panthers rebounded up the line. A tough mark by Darnell Tucker on the wing helped keep the ball in South’s possession and – soon – the ball found its way into Garthy’s hands with seconds to go, but the game wasn’t done there.

Signalling his intention to have a crack for goal from 65 metres out; Garthy nonchalantly went back and kicked an awe-inspiring spiral that soared through the Noarlunga sky and through the sticks to increase the winning margin to 9 points, 10.9 (69) to 9.6 (60).

The corresponding celebration by the players followed by the emotional send-off of Overall completed what was the latest chapter in a long-standing rivalry.

Made more impressive as the Panthers were down to just 3 rotations after halftime due to the loss of the smooth-moving Sam Ramsay.

This hard-fought win, which was also the 12th South result this year that was settled by 2 goals or less, completed a successful round for the club as it was the first weekend this year that saw all 4 men’s grades achieve victory.

And the Panthers will look to finish their season on a high note as they face Woodville-West Torrens at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday, 20 August, from 2:05pm.